Izvestia: "Popular Front reports"
The formation of the Popular Front, first proposed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, will be continued on a daily basis. Tonight Putin will meet with the front's activists and on Thursday, according to information obtained by Izvestia, the front's organising committee will adopt a document on its targets and tasks.
"We are hearing critics and pessimists but there are also many organisations that would like to join the front," Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said yesterday. "Now the main thing is not to slow down."
On Wednesday Putin will gather with the front's activists in an informal meeting. The United Russia leadership will take part in the meeting. An official meeting will take place on Thursday. Its agenda will focus on the front's formation.
"Before, we talked about the elaboration and adoption of a 'certain fundamental document' that may be called a 'declaration, charter or memorandum,'" Peskov recalled. "The main point is that this document will outline the front's targets and the guidelines for the fold."
The front will be established without any further delay. Putin announced his support for the initiative to form the front at a United Russia conference in Volgograd on Friday, and the first meeting of its Coordinating Council took place in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence on Saturday.
Nobody at the conference knew anything in advance.
"We knew absolutely nothing," Frantz Klintsevich told Izvestia. His Union of Afghan War Veterans has already joined the front. "True, Volodin (Deputy Prime Minister Vyacheslav Volodin, head of the government staff – Izvestia) dropped some hints. He told us to listen carefully and said there would be many interesting things," Klintsevich added.
To Izvestia's knowledge, it is Volodin that is supervising the front's organisation. Two key aspects still remain unclear – how the front will function and who will compile election lists.
The prime minister is expected to clarify these issues even before the informal meeting – it may happen at the congress of machine builders in Togliatti. Apparently, the front will have the same structure as any public organisation or political movement, like United Russia's "Russia, go!" Now the front has a leader and the Coordinating Council at the federal level. Soon similar councils will be established in the regions. As for a programme document that will define the front ideologically, it is almost ready (it is currently being edited). The document declares that the front's main goal is to build a just society in Russia.
"I think this must be the front's main thrust and this is the task for the people that are working on the text," Head of the Independent Trade Unions Federation Mikhail Shmakov told Izvestia.
Shmakov specified that in any event the document will explain to society and all organisations that would like to join the front on what principles and for what purpose people unite.
The main issue is the degree of participation of the front's members in the elections to the Duma. The front's non-partisan members will be included on United Russia's lists during these elections. They have been promised up to a quarter of seats (150 out of 600). This process will follow the same pattern as for party candidates, that is, during the United Russia primaries. The party has a working group on elaborating a draft provision on intra-party voting and this group is now quickly tailoring this procedure to the needs of the front's members. Many experts say that the primaries procedure leaves much to be desired. "It is no secret that a party has party functionaries that build relations based on their own interests," Klintsevich noted.
"The front will receive its quota but I don't think there will be many surprises because United Russia will have the right to reject some candidates. It may approve of some and reject others," political scientist Alexei Makarkin said.
However, the front's participants are convinced that they will be able to influence the selection; in particular in deciding what seats will be given to public representatives. To avoid discontent and intrigues, the question of distributing top places on the party election list may be subject to strict control of party executives or even Putin himself. Most likely, United Russia will have to elaborate mechanisms that are acceptable to all and codify them in the provisions on primaries. "If we are unable to influence the list, there will be no unification," a participant of the front told Izvestia.
"I assume that the mechanisms and the positions that may be claimed by public representatives will be defined clearly enough," said Vladimir Gutenev, executive director of the Union of Machine Builders and member of the front's Coordinating Council. "We won't be happy to be assigned places from 450 to 600 on the voting list," he added.
Obviously, these are not top places but purely symbolic ones. Gutenev believes that the front should aim to "get those organisations that were outside the political process involved and form social lifts for people that do not join United Russia for different reasons."
Why did Putin need to establish the front? There may be several answers to this question. The majority of United Russia and front members as well as experts believe that December 2011 is the point of departure. "No doubt, this is an attempt to consolidate United Russia's positions on the eve of the Duma elections," political scientist Vyacheslav Nikonov said. In his opinion, Putin is now mobilising those public organisations that either already enjoy support or may be useful in the future.
In turn, United Russia representatives maintain that Putin's proposal has indisputable advantages. "The essence of the matter is that United Russia is both a leader and servant for public organisations," said Sergei Markov, party member and director of the Institute of Political Studies. "After all, in this case the party is helping public organisations pursue their interests whereas the latter's members are drawing new voters to the elections," he said.
However, many experts are convinced that the decision on the front's formation must be linked not only with the Duma elections but also with the presidential campaign in 2012. President of the Effective Policy Fund Gleb Pavlovsky is convinced that this is the case. He also thinks that the prime minister will try to spare himself any accidents after his presidential campaign. "This will be his political fortress," he told Izvestia. But this is not the only goal. "The threat of losing 5%-7% at the forthcoming elections would not have prompted United Russia to set up the Popular Front. There is a clear attempt to carry out changes within the party. But if this road has been chosen, this is probably the only possibility of changing the situation," Pavlovsky explained.
United Russia representatives are trying to avoid commenting on the situation. "The ambitions of the president and the prime ministers are not discussed in United Russia," Markov went on. "This is not the absence of a position but the other way around. At any rate I can say that Putin's decision to establish the front is bound to consolidate his political potential," he concluded.
Alexander Beluza, Yekaterina Grigoryeva, Anastasia Savinykh and Mikhail Kharlamov
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The party is helping public organisations pursue their interests whereas the latter's members are drawing new voters to the elections.
